Gauge cock



April 7, 1931- H.-E. CULBERTSON 1,799,736

GAUGE 000K Filled Sept. 25, 1929 1n venior fleizrylzdbe r5507,

A iiomeu 330' wherein Patented Apr. 7, 1931 UNITED STATES HENRY ELMERCULBERTSON, OF MCCOOK, NEBRASKA GAUGE COCK Application filed. September25,1929.

This invention relates to valves, and has more particular reference tothe provision of an improved gauge, cock or valve, which is especiallyadapted for use in conjunction with a steam boiler water levelindicating device. I v

Another very important object of the invention is to provide an improvedsteam boiler water level safety gauge cock or valve of simple. orinexpensive construction, the construction being further such as torender the cock automatically self-grinding, thus rendering the cock. orvalve of this nature fully capable of giving extraordinary long servicewithout repairs or grinding of the valve or cook.

' Another salient feature of this invention is the provision of animproved gauge cook or valve of the class above mentioned, which willrequire no such valve stem packlng as is generally or commonly used,which will be compact, simple in construction, reliable and efiicient inoperation, strong, durable, and otherwise well adapted for the purposeintended.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring a study of the following description, taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken through a valveor coclr'constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is an elevational plan view, showing the under side of thehandle.

Figure 3 is an end view of the valve stem at the handle end of the stem,the handle being removed. I

With reference more in detail to the drawings, it will be seen that myimproved valve or safety gauge cock comprises a casing designatedgenerally by the reference character 5, said casing being provided atits 7 outer end with an externally threaded neck 6, r and this casing isclosed throughout its length with the exception of the laterallyextending projection 7 which defines'an exhaust passage 8 communicatingwith the in- ,;teriorchamber 9. 7 1

At its inner end" the valve casing 5 is re- Serial No. 395,125.

duced and is externally threaded on this reduced portion as indicatedgenerally as at 10. Formed at the inner end of the casing is arestricted inlet opening 11. The wall of the inlet opening 11 isbevelled inwardly to provide the valve seat 12. It is of course to beunderstood that the inlet opening 11 com municates with the chamber 9.Theneck 6 of the casing is provided with an axial bore 13, said bore 13communicating at its inner end with the chamber 9.

A valve stem l l'has its outer end portion slidable in said bore, thisvalve stem adapted to extend through the casing and at its inner endmerges intoan. enlarged head or valve 15 adapted to seat in the valveseat 12. This stem is to be actuated in a manner herein presently setforth, so as to permit an opening of the valve outwardly of the casing.A suitable valve handle 16 is adapted to threadedly engage the threadedneck 6 as at 17. The threads on the neck 6 are preferably left handthreads. l

At its outer end the valve stem 14 terminates in a squared reducedportion 14 and the handle 16 is provided with a squared opening 16through which the said squared portion 1 1' of the stem 14 extends. Atthe outer end of this squared portion the valve stem has a threadedportion 17 and a pair of adjusting nuts 18 and 18 respectively arethreadedly engaged on this threaded portion of the valve stem andmaintain the stem in relation to the handle 16. In providing thisreduced squared portionat the outer end of the stem M- the stem iscorrespondingly shouldered at the juncture of the squared portion andthe upper surface of'the shoulder is cut at 19 to provide the sharpenededge circumjacent the squared portion and this edge may be termed thestop-edge of the stem.

. The handle 16 is provided with a suitable stop-edge seat 20. This seat20 constitutes or is formed from a suitable piece of metal of theconsistency of medium hard babbit which is set or inlaid in the handle16 about its opening 16 so as to cooperate with the sharpened stop-edgeof the valve stem thus 1 providing a tight steam or water joint with thesaid stop edge seat.

In practice, the reduced inner end of the casing which, as I have hereinshown as threaded, provides means whereby the valve may be connectedwith the boiler, with the result that the valve 15 extending beyond thereduced end of the valve casing rests upon its seat as illustrated, thesaid valve being acted upon by the internal pressure of the boiler andthus is maintained in seated position by the pressure.

Hence, from this novel arrangement, a certain grinding in action betweenthe valve and its seat takes place. Obviously, this grinding in actioncan be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the valvegrinder clearance through the medium of the adjustment nuts 18 and 18'.

Obviously, by turning the valve handle 16 in one direction, or to beprecise, in a left hand direction, the handle will slide inwardly on thevalve stems squared portion 14 until the stop-edge seat 20 is forcedfirmly against the stop edge formed on the shoulder portion of the valvestem. Of course, during this action the valve 15 has been caused torotate upon its seat.

The rotation of the valve. first in one direction for opening the valve,and then in an opposite direction for closing the valve. permits of thegrinding of the valve as is apparent. lVhen the stop-edge and stop-edgeseat come together so as to form the steam tight joint as beforementioned, continued rotation of the handle will of course force thevalve to an unseated position against the pressure in the steam boilerthus permitting exhaust of the steam into the chamber 9 and outwardly ofthe casing through the exhaust channel 8. The stop-edge and stopedgeseat will during the time the valve remains open also remain in contactwith one another thus maintaining at all times a. water and steam tightjoint and thus render ing the use of a valve stem packing unnecessary.

A distinct safety feature of this invention attained through thisparticular arrangement and construction of parts is that should thisdevice as a whole sustain from an exterior cause, as a wreck, orlocomotive overturning and derailment, breakage damage not sufficientlysevere to force the entire valve body from its boiler fastening, whichhowever would be and is of rare occurrence, there would be retained inits normal position, together with the internal boiler pres sure uponthe valve, the valve and valve seat portion of the valve body with thevalve in firm closed position.

Thus is provided an automatic scalding steam and scalding water escapeprevention, even though the balance of the device shall have been tornaway by any accident.

Attention is called to the fact that the valve stem 14 is reducedadjacent the head 15, so that the diameter of the stem rearwardly of thehead will be comparatively smaller than the diameter of the opening 11,with the result that there will be permitted an uninterrupted flowthrough the valve casing of the matter discharging from the boiler. Inhaving the stem 14 at this point of smaller diameter than the opening11, it will also be "apparent that when the head is moved to an unseatedposition, a suitable test rod may be inserted into the opening andcontinued on through the opening into the boiler, and this use of thetest rod can be accomplished without in any wise altering the structureof the valve or in necessitating the removal of any part of the valvestructure.

A still further important feature and advantage of an invention of thisnature rcsides in the provision of a self-cleaning action, which actionis provided for as follows:

The line of outlet, through its entire course, is made extraordinarilylarge and free from any outlet flow hindrance. This line is also causedto follow in its entire course, from valve seat opening to point ofexhaust to the atmosphere, a constantly increasing descending pitchreaching the perpendicular, at the point of exhaust. Moreover, thepresence of boiler contents are entirely eliminated from the outletchannel when the Valve 15 is seated, or in other words with valve 15closed, the outlet channel is kept entirely free. All of which, as willbe appreciated, results in a dependable, self-cleaning action.

A further salient feature of the invention is that by moving the valvehandle openward until its face 20 abuts against the neck 6,1110narrowedportion of the valve stem l-l is brought in vertical line withthe valve opening 11. This produces a comparatively very large openingrearwardly of the valve 15 through which a test rod may be passed into aboiler.

Of course, any suitable type of test rod may be utilized. These devicesbeing well known in the art, and in using the same, it will be seen thatone end of the test rod will be passed into the casing through theexhaust passage and continued through the casing to pass through theinlet opening into the boiler in a manner well known in the art.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that l have provided a boilergauge stop cock or valve characterized by simplicity and compactness ofstructure, embodying an extensive range of functioning abilityJispositive in operation, thoroughly efiicient and reliable in use, andotherwise fully capable of attaining the objects and advantages as aboveenumerated.

Even though I have herein shown and clescribecl the proposed embodimentof my in vention, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible tochanges fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention and the scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a valve structure of the class described, a valve casing providedat its outer end with a reduced externally threaded neck, said valvecasing at its inner end being provided with an inlet openingconstituting a valve seat, said valve casing being further provided onits intermediate portion wit-h a laterally extending discharge port, ahandle threadedly engaged with said neck, said handle being providedwith a centrally disposed squared opening, a valve stem slidable androtatable in the casing, said valve stem having its outer portionextending through said neck, and having a reduced square portionprojecting through the opening in said handle, adjusting nuts threadedlyengaged with the outer extremity of said stem, the opposite end portionof said valve stem extending through the inlet opening, said lastmentioned end of the valve stem being provided with an enlarged headconstituting a valve adapted to seat in said inlet opening, said valvestem being provided adjacent its outer reduced portion with a shoulder,said shoulder being cut to provide a sharpened stop shoulder, and a stopseat formed on the inner side of said handle adapted to co-act with saidstop shoulder for providing a steam-tight joint between said stem andhandle.

2. A. valve comprising in combination a casing having a relatively largechamber, said casing at one end thereof provided with an inlet openingfor said chamber and constituting a valve seat, said casing beingfurther provided with a lateral discharge port for said chamber, a valvestem operable within said chamber and having its opposite endsprojecting outwardly of the casing at the corresponding ends of thecasing, said stem at one end provided with an enlarged head constitutinga valve adapted to seat in said inlet opening, said stem at its otherend adapted to accommodate an actuating handle therefor, an actuatinghandle, means for mounting said handle on the last referred to end ofsaid stem for movement longitudinally of said stem, said stem adjacentsaid last referred to end provided with a shoulder cut to provide asharpened edge, and a stop piece formed on the inner side of said handleadapted to co-act with said stop edge for providing a steam tight jointbetween said stem and handle when the valve is being moved by the handleto open position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HENRY ELMER CULBERTSON.

